Cactilio for creating all the custom battles; Deling to call for them and setting variables in regards to quest availability condition, repeat prevention etc; and Ifrit to create a battle specific AI script for Bomb (if battle = 1022, do this and that).

The hardest and most time consuming part is the work in Deling, as you need to learn that script language and use it yourself to put own ideas into practice. If you are really interested, you could start by comparing the non-modded Fire Cavern fields with the ones from this mod, to see what the differences are in detail (most changes are in the Director script). Always create backups in any case though, as things can be messed up easily if you are not familiar with changing field scripts.

Other information, for example about field variables, unused enemy encounter IDs, main story progress variables etc are helpful too. You can get a lot of this information from here:

Had a ton of fun this time around as well. Plenty of great quality of life and misc changes in this version but for this post I mainly want to give my thoughts on some of the major changes and other notable points I came across during this playthrough.

Ultimecia’s CastleNot having full stacks of Aura going into disc 4 this time around made for a vastly different experience. That plus the fact that you seemed to have touched up on most if not all of the bosses here has turned this into a worthy final dungeon in my opinion. I enjoyed all the fights and was even pleasantly surprised by a few of them. Trauma and Tiamat gave me a few game-overs that I wasn’t expecting and the fight with Ulimecia got dicey at a few points. All in all, I really enjoyed revisiting this part of the game after finding it really easy last time.

Oh, and I think Catoblepas’s Deadly Horn ability might be bugged. I have never seen it actually land a hit. I redid the battle a second time and he still missed every one he threw out.

General thoughtsThe absolute highlight of this version has to be the buff to the ultimate weapons and the damage cap removal. Standard attacks hit noticeably harder now and doesn’t feel like a waste to use anymore. Darkside has become such a beast of an ability in the late-game as well. Funnily enough, I would’ve never imagined myself using Berserk as much as I did, but it’s amazingly good.

Limits, however, still maintain their dominance as the best way to deal damage (as they should be) but they’re no longer easily spammable without consequences. As a result, they actually feel special and exciting when you do get to use them.

I also ended up utilizing Bahamut and Eden much more than I did last time around. I think they already broke the damage limit before but I just didn’t have the incentive to level and use them as much as I do now. It feels like you’ve really nailed a good balance for all the different avenues of dealing damage. Kudos.

DarksideThis might be a bit contentious but I would like to see a second Darkside being available. As it stands right now, there are mainly two ways to maximize physical’s damage potential: Darkside or Berserk. And as much as I made use of Berserk, I’m actually not a fan of the way it works. It’s very costly to lose control of a character and it’s something that I hesitate to use on tough battles because of that. More importantly, I feel like the loss of control goes directly against the essence of a turn-based RPG where being able to plan and react with your command abilities is a large part of the enjoyment.

In addition, I feel like a second Darkside would allow party compositions of two (or even three) physical attackers to be more viable. Right now, if you run two physical attackers you would want to run Darkside on one of them and Berserk on the other. I feel like being able to run two Darksides in this setup would lead to a more enjoyable and healthier gameplay experience. Now, if you want to run a party of three physical attackers (and I don’t see why this should be discouraged), the most optimal way to go about it would be to have two of them berserked and that just feels wrong and degenerative.

Berserk (and Mad Rush by extension) is great for plowing through regular battles but I don’t think relying on such a mechanic for boss fights should be encouraged. If necessary, I think nerfing Darkside a bit or making its health cost higher would be a fair trade to be able to have a second one.

Angel WingI usually don’t like using Angel Wing for the same reasons I don’t like Berserk. However, I think the new implementation of it is worse than the previous version from a pure damage perspective, even if the way it works is fundamentally better.

The reason I say this is because there is really only one reason why you would want to use an ability like Angel Wing in the first place: to do more damage per turn than you normally would without it. Otherwise, there’d be no point to give up control of your character. And I don’t think it accomplishes that currently.

I tried using it on a few occasions during this playthrough and I came across the same problems every time:

There are too many low level spells. The –ga spells, Pain, Water just doesn’t feel good when you get them. Yes, they still hurt but when you only get Meteor or Flare like once every 6-8 casts you start to wonder if you shouldn’t just triple cast them instead. I'm not 100% sure how the numbers compare but it doesn't feel like Angel Wing pulls ahead even without taking into account point #2.

If a boss has any elemental properties, Angel Wing falls behind pretty handily. Boss has a weakness? You’re almost guaranteed to do more damage just manual triple casting the targeted weakness every turn. And obviously, if they are strong to or absorb any element(s), your total damage can go down drastically or even into the negatives (I tried it on Omega to much amusement.)

I firmly believe that you should limit the spell pool to the non-elemental damage spells. I think that even if you lower the coefficient back to 3 but take away all the elemental spells, it would still be better than the current iteration. By the point when you unlock Angel Wing, you pretty much would never cast spells below Flare or Holy for damage anyways unless it’s to target a weakness.

Wall/InvincibilityI decided to try using Selphie more after neglecting her last time around. I never realized Wall gave Invincibility but I feel like the skill (and the buff) is a little cheap in general. As for the skill itself, I actually feel like it is better than Invincible Moon in its original form. While it might seem difficult to reliably count on Slots to keep the buff up, it’s actually pretty easy to pull off in practice by just doing it in long animation sequences like summons or certain Limits.

Now, I think the bigger issue I have with it lies in the Invincibility buff itself. I really dislike the idea of being able to avoid a fight mechanic completely. Ways to mitigate it, yes, but to completely negate a mechanic feels like it’s almost cheating the fight. Even heavily limiting its availability (as in the case of Hero/Holy War) doesn’t diminish its binary nature. It’s the kind of mechanic that either trivializes a fight if used or doesn’t have any value at all.

I would like to say that this is simply something that I don’t personally like. I think that it is completely fine as it is, with how limited you can use it, to keep it as an option for the player to choose to use or not. With that said, if you do decide to change it, I think making it work as a damage reduction that stacks on top of Protect/Shell might be an option to keep it strong but not overly cheap.

Vit0This is another rather minor issue that I have with Vit0’s current functionality much like with Invincibility. Vit0 was one of the more broken mechanics back in the original game and I think it’s actually in a really good spot balance-wise in this mod. This is basically something that I would like to see improved but I don’t think it is a big deal.

The issue I have with it is that it’s an all or nothing mechanic (like Invincibility and Aura.) In order to balance around this, you either have to make a boss have that much more health if they are susceptible to make up for the damage increase or you make it have such a low chance of applying that it might as well be immune. So the choice becomes: Is boss immune? If yes, then the mechanic is useless. If no, then you have a situation where there could be two wildly different experiences for the same fight. For example, if you set the chance to apply to be high, then obviously the boss has to be balanced around having Vit0 on. If the chance to apply is set to be extremely low to counteract its strength, then there could be a case where one player manages to apply it early on in a fight and have a much easier time compared to someone else who didn’t (even if they were casting meltdown the entire time.) This not only makes it difficult for the person doing the balancing but it also isn’t very enjoyable for the player to spend an entire battle trying to cast meltdown and having it not work.

If such a functionality can be implemented, I would love to see the status get a rework to be less potent but have an easier time applying. Maybe something like 50% or 25% reduced Vit/Spr with a limited duration so one would need to constantly reapply it in order to take advantage of the damage increase.

I rechecked Catoblepas' Deadly Horn to make sure, and it sometimes even hit Irvine who had the highest Evade stat in my party (14%, which is already a high number for Evade in this game), so I guess you were just "unlucky" to not get hit by it. Its hit rate is lower than a regular physical attack, and has been already increased for the mod, but well, it should be fine to increase it by a few more points, so its potential will be seen more often.

As for a second Darkside ability, I'm not sure if it would be healthy to the physical vs magical damage balance. Physical damage output is actually in a good spot right now, due to Irvine's increased critical hit rate that comes from his weapons, Squall's R1 trigger, and Zell's high base Strength. When I run a party of all 3 of them, I usually put Darkside on Squall, attack with Irvine normally, getting quite many critical hits, and sometimes cast Berserk on Zell, and that feels quite satisfying most of the time. I would rather increase the newly introduced Ultimate Weapon bonus for Zell to push physical damage a little more - a second Darkside would be likely be too powerful, especially if you know about enemy weaknesses.

In regards to Angel Wing, I mostly agree with the points you made - I just wouldn't classify the -ga spells as low-level spells, and I don't think it's necessary that Angel Wing always beats Triple spells in terms of pure damage, as Angel Wing has the added bonus of not consuming spells from inventory and also shorter animations. Other than that, I realized that elemental spells are being used too often indeed, which limits its usefulness against quite many enemies. At the moment, the chance of Rinoa casting an elemental spell under Angel Wing is even 75%. This is not exactly what was planned and will be reduced to ~40% very soon. I don't want to remove them entirely, as the number of non-elemental spells is quite low in this game; it would be boring if she used only Meltdown, Flare, Meteor and Ultima. Also because elemental spells can hit an enemy's weakness, which can be quite satisfying as well (for example, when getting Holy against Griever).

Changing the way Invincibility and Vit 0 work would not be an easy thing to do, but I'll keep your ideas in mind for later. Would really love that too.

Anyways, I want to take this opportunity to thank you again for all the work you've put in and still continuing to do on making this amazing mod. I can't speak for anyone else but I had an absolute blast with my two playthroughs. I'm really glad I decided to revisit the game again after all this time and for accidentally stumbling upon your mod because I don't think I would've had as enjoyable of an experience as I did otherwise. I'll be looking forward to seeing what you have in store for future versions. Cheers!

Yes, you could update to the latest version by redownloading the mod package from the opening post, and go through all the steps again, as if the mod was installed for the first time.

There would be only a few things to take care of in regards to compatibility with saves from older versions:

- if Odin was already unlocked in one of the previous versions, he would still randomly appear at the beginning of battles. If that's the case, I would recommend disabling Odin by using Hyne Save editor to prevent him from appearing, as in the newest version, Odin is summoned by using an item instead.

- there might be something strange in GF Ability lists, like "Tool-RF, required AP: 53/30". This is because some of the Abilities have been changed or swapped around in the latest version and can be easily fixed by selecting the Ability, then doing a battle. The issue will auto-correct itself afterwards, and the Ability in question will be fully learned.

You could also just send me your save game and I would adjust it for you, but I think it's better to wait until the next version of this mod releases within the next couple of days.

I just downloaded the Mod and verified it was installed correctly (I started out with magic on Squall and was able to draw Double in the library). The issue I'm having is that the game freezes once I try to enter the world map. I can play up until I meet up with Quistis at the front gate and when I try to zone into the world map to make my way to the fire cavern the game freezes and then crashes. Any ideas on how to fix this issue would be greatly appreciated. If this has been mentioned already I apologize; I don't know how to navigate through these posts very well.

UPDATE:Just realized I made a mistake by replacing the Lang-en folder entirely so I was missing the world files (including some "magic" documents). So now I'm able to load the world map.

Hey, Callisto. I heard about Ragnarok from XeroKynos, and knew I had to download it right away and try it out. I am thoroughly enjoying the mod, and I'll probably post the majority of my thoughts after I'm done my playthrough. While I'm here, though:

I love the fact that Intruders (Deling City sewers theme) continues to play when you fight the new optional boss in Dollet. I'm fairly sure this was intentional, but if it was a bug/oversight, please do not fix it; it's subtle and quite humorous.

Oh, and good to hear that a new version is coming out soon! Keep up the good work.

Yes, you could update to the latest version by redownloading the mod package from the opening post, and go through all the steps again, as if the mod was installed for the first time.

There would be only a few things to take care of in regards to compatibility with saves from older versions:

- if Odin was already unlocked in one of the previous versions, he would still randomly appear at the beginning of battles. If that's the case, I would recommend disabling Odin by using Hyne Save editor to prevent him from appearing, as in the newest version, Odin is summoned by using an item instead.

- there might be something strange in GF Ability lists, like "Tool-RF, required AP: 53/30". This is because some of the Abilities have been changed or swapped around in the latest version and can be easily fixed by selecting the Ability, then doing a battle. The issue will auto-correct itself afterwards, and the Ability in question will be fully learned.

You could also just send me your save game and I would adjust it for you, but I think it's better to wait until the next version of this mod releases within the next couple of days.

I appreciate the offer, I won't trouble you though. I'll just go ahead and download the current one now and get the newer version when it's out. Glad to know there won't be any trouble though. Thank you!

Loving the mod by the way. I’ve hit a few walls against bosses (I’m doing a semi- selfish magic run in combination with the play through) and I’m loving the challenge.

The Aura spell has been replaced with a new spell called Renew that casts Protect, Shell and Regen on one character. It can be drawn from a boss at the end of disc 3 and can be refined from Barriers and Shaman Stones using Supt-Mag RF. As for junctions, it works very well on HP, Vitality, Spirit and Elem-Def and is generally a good substitute for Holy, which doesn't necessarily needs to be junctioned anymore, and therefore can now be used more freely in battles. Having a spell that combines the effects of Protect, Shell and Regen also helps with freeing up space in the spell inventory, as these 3 spells now become pretty redundant once Renew has been obtained. To avoid confusion, Alexander's Renew Ability has been renamed to its default name, Revive. Note that Aura Stones are still available, but as rare as usual.

Boss changes

Several bosses have had their AI changed, use new attacks or have their stats altered to avoid Darkside inflicting too much damage on them:

Biggs and Wedge (1st) and X-ATM092 have some more HP.

Raldo's Breath attack now causes Blind instead of Slow.

Diablos uses an additional attack, and a slightly different AI.

Sacred uses a new attack, in addition to his physical attack.

Edea (1st) has a different opener.

The G-Soldiers that appear alongside Raijin (1st) have been made more robust.

Fujin (1st) says "ELLONE, WHERE?" only once per battle, can use Mega-Potion.

Jumbo Cactuar's weakness against Water has been reduced.

Mobile Type 8 generally received some major changes to its attack pattern.

Catoblepas' Deadly Horn hits more often, Thunder Summon has been renamed and is now non-elemental.

Tri-Point got some adjustments in regards to Darkside usefulness.

Final boss (3rd phase) got some Darkside related adjustments as well.

Other changes

An optional boss battle against a unique Ruby Dragon is now available at Trabia Canyon.

PuPu now goes into rage mode after being attacked a few times.

The game can be saved right after the boss battle against the 3 soldiers at Missile Base.

A save opportunity has been added right before the new optional boss battle inside Fire Cavern.

Base power for Water and Meltdown spells has been slightly increased.

Base power for all GF up to Brothers have been slightly reduced.

Zell's Ehrgeiz weapon has a higher base power (not to be confused with Strength bonus).

Natural base growth for Spirit has been increased for some characters.

Elemental spells are now being used less frequently under Angel Wing.

Protect Stone and Shell Stone have been added to the new shop in Timber train.

Includes the recent bugfixes for Cerberus and Tiamat.

@Binnon: Glad you figured out what was going on. You are not the first one who accidentally did this. I'll update the installation instructions to prevent this from happening in the future.

@DiscoCokkroach: Yes, the music change was intentional as I thought "Never Look Back" plays one screen too early on the way to the new boss encounter. Good to hear you are enjoying the mod overall. I hope XeroKynos' latest video won't discourage you from playing, because of his rough battle against the soldiers at Missile Base. Maybe I should emphasize more clearly that leveling up is actually helpful in this mod (besides looking for new spells every now and then) - it would have definitely helped.

@Murasame: Thank you. Whenever you are of the impression that certain battles are too tough or unfair, let me know.

Thanks for your input. I will probably do some smaller adjustments to the bosses you mentioned. Here are some tips against them:

Gerogero: Yes, I know he can hit hard, especially if the player missed drawing Protect and Shell from Granaldo, which is why Protect and Shell Stones have been recently added to the Forest Owls shop that can be accessed right before heading to the boss (Rinoa will mention it). If you use these Stones moments before the start of the second phase, cast Cure on Gerogero repeatedly (preferably with Selphie, who has the highest base Mag stat out of the three; if you have some Doubles left, that helps too), and remove Gerogeros status effects, you should be in a reasonable spot, even with less ideal junctions and rather low levels.

Brothers: They have been made that strong as they are optional, but it's actually a pretty manageable fight, depending on which spells the party has received up until that point. Zombie should do for HP, which can be refined from the Zombie Powders Gerogero dropped, and can be also drawn from Blood Souls near Galbadia Garden or near the Tomb in night-time areas on the world map. Aero is a good spell on Str and Mag at this point and can be drawn from Thrust Aevis that appears almost everywhere near Timber and Deling City. The player should also have Protect by now (if not, it can be drawn from Armadodo inside the Tomb), which helps mitigating most of the Brothers' attacks, and if junctioned to Vit, Sacred's Confuse shouldn't proc all that often. A newly added secondary attack for Sacred further alleviates the issue of falling victim to Confuse. In battle, it is highly advisable to defeat Sacred (the bigger one) first, as he has less HP than Minotaur and their Mad Cow Special attack will no longer be used after one of them has been defeated. As for own damage output, Aero, Bio or Demi should all do good damage on the Brothers, especially when used with high Mag characters. Haste is actually not all that useful for this battle, as Protect wears off faster then. I would limit positive status effects to Protect and Float for this battle, as anything else just takes too much time to maintain.

Prison boss battle: It's mostly all about taking out the Elite Soldier as fast as possible, as the fight becomes noticably easier once he is gone (the GIM52As will stop using Ray-Bomb and no longer counter with it occasionally, and can no longer be healed or buffed). Using Bio in conjunction with Double is probably the most reliable way to do so. Slow on the Elite Solider is very useful as well and should work most of the time (use your highest Mag character for this task). If he uses an Aura Stone on one of the GIM52As (he would do that in the original game too, as well as casting Meltdown), the status can be removed conveniently with their own Dispel spells. Vit 0 can be nasty, but it should be ok to just ignore the status as long as Protect and Shell are up. If your junctions aren't that great, get Water and Bio from Chimera, Regen from the Guards, Berserk from the Wendigos and Life from the GIM47Ns. Levels should be around 20-25 for this boss battle.

The description for Quistis' Blue Mage spells are now more detailed in her status menu screen and in battle.

Thanks to Kael for bringing up the first 3 points. I especially agree in the case of Gerogero's general damage output, which was a little too high if the party has nothing better than Cure on HP (which is perfectly normal at this point). As for the other two bosses, the changes probably don't change all that much, but in combination with up-to-date spells and prioritizing targets, it should go well.

@ Divatox: I have sent you a PM and listed some enemies that should be safe to edit using the Ifrit tool, as they mostly appear alone (exceptions in brackets), without the need of manual hex editing, which can be complicated indeed if you have never hex-edited something before. In case you missed this list, here it is again:

- Behemoth (can appear together with an Imp in Esthar City)- Chimera (can appear alongside Fastitocalon-F in Ultimecia's Castle)- Ruby Dragon (with the exception of a Forest encounter on the Centra continent with an additional Blitz, and one at Deep Sea Research Center where the pillar is)- Elnoyle- Slapper- Hexadragon (with the exception of one encounter in Ultimecia's Castle)- Malboro- Tri-Face- Cactuar (with the exception of two encounters in Ultimecia's Castle)- Tonberry

Yes, I've tried increasing the number of hits for several spell besides Meteor - it didn't work, though.

But even without that change, spells and GF can be quite useful even as single-hit, as there is no 9,999 HP damage limit in this mod. Holy, for example, can inflict more than 9,999 HP easily on enemies that are weak to it (like Tri-Face, or Griever) and Bahamut can do up to ~35,000 HP on any enemy, depending on Bahamut's level and Abilities learned.

Yes, I've tried increasing the number of hits for several spell besides Meteor - it didn't work, though.

But even without that change, spells and GF can be quite useful even as single-hit, as there is no 9,999 HP damage limit in this mod. Holy, for example, can inflict more than 9,999 HP easily on enemies that are weak to it (like Tri-Face, or Griever) and Bahamut can do up to ~35,000 HP on any enemy, depending on Bahamut's level and Abilities learned.